I Think He's Bored

[ibbledibble]

i have my betta in a 3.5gal rectangular tank. i have covered 2 sides with black paper, but comet keeps flaring. could this be because of the covering? if not any idea what it could be?
is this bad for him? sorry to be a pain, but i worry so much about him, much more than any other fish i've had (am i overfeeding him? am i underfeeding him? is his water ok?etc)

 

[bettawen]

hes prob flaring beccause he can see his reflection, so if you are worried take the covering off

 

[ibbledibble]

he has cut right back on the flaring now does it from time to time but not often.

but now i'm worried that he's bored. if i'm not sat next to his tank he just seems to go and find somewhere to sit (on top of the filter, in the live plants, on the bottom of the tank etc) as soon as i come over and he notices me he comes swimming over to say hello. but he also seems to spend a lot of time swimming along next to his reflection on the uncovered sides of the tank. he kind of swims along pressed right up against the glass and then turns to face it and then swims along next to it again.
what can i do to keep him entertained? he has a bare tank bottom for easy cleaning, is this a problem? i have planted a pot up with some twisted vallis which sits in the corner of his tank.
can anybody recommend any kind of "toys" for him?

 

[Leitch]

Ive heard of people using a floating ping pong ball to entertain their bettas. (just make sure you are there if you open the tank lid.)

Or a small mirror to put in the tank every now and again.

 

[Squidman]

if you think hes bored you may want to add some ornaments in or maybe a friend.